Method of conditioning textile fibers



1,642,0 2 P 1927' 'R. B. SMITH 9 METHOD OF CONDITIONING TEXTILE FIBERSFiled June 28, 1926 mm/r05 ROBERT BIGHAM SMITH WMZLM A TTOR/VE YPatented Sept. 13 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT BIGHAH SMITH, OF MACON, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HUGHIBL. SIEVER, F KEYSER, WEST VIRGINIA.

mn'rnon or CONDITIONING TEXTILE FIBERS.

Application filed June as, 1926. Serial No. 118,893.

The invention relates in general to an improved method of conditioningtextile fibers such as wool, jute, cotton and the like, when in the formof raw stock and before 6 it has been spun into yarn. The invention isparticularly useful in conditioning fibers which have had their naturallubricants removed by being boiled out, bleached or dyed. In thefollowing description refer- 10 ence will be made specifically to amethod of subjecting a mass of raw cotton stock to a single conditioningtreatment.

The present invention constitutes a further deve opment of the inventiondisclosed in my Patent No. 1,550,396, on method of oiling cotton rawstock granted August 18, 1925. v

The primary object of the invention is to provide for a more perfectconditioning of textile fibers in their natural or grey statearticularly in regard to the desirable humi ifying and lubricatingfeature than has been possible where conventional methods such as theseparate spraying or sprinkling of an oil on the stock and the blowingof moisture into rooms containing the stock are followed.

Incidental to this general object it is among the other objects of theinvention to provide a lubricating treatment in which the lubricant isdiffused uniformly throughout the mass of material treated in extremelyminute particles so as to provide a treatment in which there will bepresent at the termination of the method, waterin a finely divided stateand in which both the lubricant and the water particles are capable ofbeing further diffused through the fibers as they are fed through thecarding and other machines during the subsequent steps of treating thefiber stock.

Broadly, the invention is attained by subjecting suitable lubricatingoil to the action .of a steam blast and in such way as to cause the oilto be atomized or broken up into finely divided particles and depositedwith the incidental steam condensates on the material under treatment.

Another object of this invention is to provide for an improved method ofintroducing emulsifying agents into the textile fibers as an incident oftreating the fibers for lubrication and humidificat'ion, and at the sametime to avoid the objections in-' herent in known methods of treatingsuch fibers with emulsifying agents.

Broadly, this as ect of the present invention is attained y adding tothe steamoil atomizing stream, one or more additional streams ofconventional emulsifying agents, and/or by the selection of an oil ofthe char-- acter whlch will emulsify in the presence of the hotatomizing steam and which steam to. effect this result has been causedto assume a pressure and a resulting temperature sufficient to emulsifyas well as atomize the particular oil used.

Still another object of provide for saponification in addition tothelubrication and humidification, and in general it is to be understoodthat the invention features the simultaneous treatment of the fibers toeffect in a single operation the requisite condition to which suchfibers are customarily subjected prior to being fed to the carding andother machining operations.

Various other objects and "advantages of .the invention will be obviousfrom a considdrawings and in part will be more ully set forth in thefollowing particular description of one method and of one form ofapparatus for practicing the method and the invention also consists incertain new and novel operations and features of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing there is shown diagrammatically aninstrumentality for conventionally practicing the methods featured inthis application, but it is obvious that in addition to the steam lineillustrated only one of the other feed lines is required to form thebasic combination of steamliquid atomizing form of conditioning textilefibers.

In the drawing there is shown a hopper 10 for receiving the fiber to betreated, and in the instant case it is to be assumed that the fiber israw cotton, a pair of endless conveyers 11 and 12 act conventionally tomove the cotton through and from the hopper.

At some suitable location in the mill, is

the invention is to '1 positioned a preheating chamber 13 into which isdischarged steam througlh a steam pipe 14: controlled by a valve 15.ositioned 1n the chamber 13 is a coil of heating pipe 16 in the instantcase shown to be part of an oil conduit. The intake end of the coil isin fluid communication with an oil supply pipe 17 intruded through thebottom of the chamber 13 and controlled by a valve 18. The discharge endof the coil leads from a side of the chamber through a fixed pipe 19 andflexible piping, preferably a lead pipe, 20 to an atomizer 21 providedwith a discharge vent disposed to direct a thin stream of oil on to thecotton or other stock in the hopper. broken up into finely dividedparticles or atomized to form a mist or cloud of 01].. This is attainedmost conveniently by causing a jet of steam under pressure to act on theoil in thesame manner as an air atomizer functions. In the illustratedshowing the steam is fed from a suitable source, as from the chamber 13,through a fixed plping 22 and flexible piping 23 to the atomizer 21.

Where it .is desired to introduce other chemicals in addition to the oiland water to the fibers and to take advantageof the atomizing efiect ofthe steam, it is suggested that an additional discharge nozzle 24: beincorporated with the atomizer and this nozzle be supplied from aflexible tubin 25 in turn supplied either directly and un' eated throughthe supply pipe 26 con-- trolled by a valve 27, or supplied from a pipe28 which leads through the preheating chamber 13 as indicated at 29 sothat the fluid content is subjected, more or less, to a preheatingtreatment before it is fed to the atomizer and discharged therefrom onto the stock under treatment.

In one practical application of the method herein disclosed the oil usedis a pure, mineral lubricating oil, but it is suggested that other lesseflicient oils may be used for example, castor oil and lard oil.

. the oil has been, in the case 0 The amount of steam used in proporticnto cotton rom one to five pounds of steam per pound of oil; for W001 andjute, two to ten pounds of steam per pound of oil. The steam used inthis treatment has been under a pressure of about ten pounds but isvaried dependent upon the oil and other liquids used. At this pressureit has been found that the steam acts not only to atomize the oil but atleast to some extent to efi'ect an emulsification of the oil without thenecessity of using emulsifying agents particularly for this purpose. Theaction of the atomizer is to cause the oil particles to be broken up andforcefully ejected with the steam particles into the mass of fiber undertreatment and while the oil particles are hot. While the particles areThe oil as it is discharged is moving rapidly just after they are actedupon by the steam, they quickly lose their velocity and assume the formof a lazy, cloud-like mist which settles down on the filters. The steamcoming into contact with the relatively cold fiber tends to condensethereon in the form of fine particles and this finely divided state ofboth the water and oil appears to increase the rapidity withwhich theoil permeates the mass over conventional methods wherethe oil is sprayedon to the mass of fibers. The water particles thus deposited have atendency to evaporate from the natural heat of the room and from thefriction of'the fibers as they are being passed through the machines inthe subsequent mashing operations. This subsequent movement of the oiland water particles tends further to divide the oil and further tends todistribute the oil uniformly throughout the entire mass of fiber.

Where other forms of conditioning reactions are desired in addition tothe humidification and lubricating factors featured herein, the usualreagents ma be added to or substituted for the oil. or instance, wherean emulsification is desired it is suggested that to the oil mildalkaline substances such as borax, oleates, trisodium salts and alcoholsbe incorporated, or preferably these additional modifying reagentseffected at the point of application to the fiber rather than have thesemixtures preprepared with possibility of subsequent separation ascharacterizes emulsifying agents now supplied in bulk to the market.

It is also within the scope of the disclosure to apply saponifyingreagents to the fiber in addition to or as a substitute -for the oiltreatment herein featured, and for this purpose any of the usual soapsolutions may be fed through the pipe 25. These soap solutions may beanyof the known soap forming chemicals and even stronger reagents suchas the potassium and sodium hydrates at present used in liquid forms maybe employed.

By means of the method herein disclosed there has been elfected a moreeconomic use of the reagents, the elimination of waste, a more uniformdistribution of the material through the stock and in the case ofpreprepared mixtures of reagents there has been attained an avoidance ofthe separation of the reagents as frequently occurs where the stockmixture is permitted to stand for any length of time.

While I'have shown and described, and have pointed out in the annexedclaims, certain novel features of my invention, it will too be made bythose skilled in the art the spirit of the 1. In the art of treatingtextile fibers, the

method which consists in projecting onto the fibers a stream of oilsubgected to the atomizing effect of a stream 0 steam under ressure andat a temperature sufiiciently igh to emulsify the oil.

' 2. In the art of treating textile fibers, the method which consists inro'ecting onto the fibers a stream of minera oi subject to the atomizingeffect of a stream of steam under a pressure of about ten pounds.

3. In the art of treating textile fibers, the method which consists inprojecting onto the fibers a stream of a fiber treating agentemulsifiable under heat, subjected to the atomizing effect of a streamof steam under pressure and at a temperature sufiiciently igh toemulsify the agent whereby the emulsion is formed at the instant thesteam is projected onto the fibers.

4. In the art of treating cotton fibers, the

method which consists in projecting onto the fibers a stream comprisin011 and an emulsifying agent subject to tfie atomizin effect of a streamof steam under pressure w ereby there is deposited on the fibers'finelydiffused particles of the emulsifying agent heated at the instant ofapplication by the ,heat from the steam, together with hot particles ofsteam condensates.

June, A. D. one thousand nine hun 5. In the art of treating textilefibers, the method which consists in subjecting the fiber to the actionof a plurality of streams of reheated fiber treating agents,substantially ree of water, said streams separated from each other untilmixed b the atomizing action, forcefully projecte thereon andincidentally mixed in a finely divided homogeneous state by means ofsteam through the agencly of an atomizer. p

6. n the art of treating textile fibers, the method which consists inprojecting onto the fibers a stream including an emulsifiable' a ent,said 0 water and subjected to the atomizing effect of a stream of steamunder ressure whereby there is projected on to the ber hot particles ofthe agent and particles of hot steam condensates supplied by theatomizing steam.

7. In the art of treating fibers, the-method which consists in feedingto an atomizer a plurality of streams of fiber treating substances whichhave a tendency to separate when left undisturbed, subjecting saidstreams to the atomizing action of a stream of steam under pressure andunder conditions which will tend to prevent cooling of the resultingmixture.

Signed at Macon, in the county of Bibb and State of Georgia, thissixteenth dag of red twenty six.

ROBERT BIGHAM SMITH.

stream being substantially free'

